<%
=begin
apps: grafana, grafana-operator
platforms: kubernetes, tanzu-application-catalog
id: compare_solutions
title: Differences between the Grafana and Grafana Operator Helm charts
category: get-started
weight: 40
highlight: 40
=end %>

The Grafana chart deploys a single Grafana installation (with Grafana Image Renderer) using a Kubernetes Deployment object (together with Services, PVCs, ConfigMaps, etc.). The figure below shows the deployed objects in the cluster:

```
                    +--------------+             +-----+
                    |              |             |     |
 Service & Ingress  |    Grafana   +<------------+ PVC |
<-------------------+              |             |     |
                    |  Deployment  |             +-----+
                    |              |
                    +-----------+--+
                                ^                +------------+
                                |                |            |
                                +----------------+ Configmaps |
                                                 |   Secrets  |
                                                 |            |
                                                 +------------+

```

Its lifecycle is managed using Helm and, at the Grafana container level, the following operations are automated: persistence management, configuration based on environment variables and plugin initialization. The chart also allows deploying dashboards and data sources using ConfigMaps. The Deployments do not require any ServiceAccounts with special RBAC privileges so this solution would fit better in more restricted Kubernetes installations.

The Grafana Operator chart deploys a Grafana Operator installation using a Kubernetes Deployment. The figure below shows the Grafana operator deployment:

```
+--------------------+
|                    |      +---------------+
|  Grafana Operator  |      |               |
|                    |      |     RBAC      |
|    Deployment      |      |   Privileges  |
|                    |      |               |
+-------+------------+      +-------+-------+
        ^                           |
        |   +-----------------+     |
        +---+ Service Account +<----+
            +-----------------+
```

The Operator will extend the Kubernetes API with the following objects: *Grafana*, *GrafanaDashboard* and *GrafanaDataSource*. From that moment, the user will be able to deploy objects of these kinds and the previously deployed Operator will take care of deploying all the required Deployments, ConfigMaps and Services for running a Grafana instance. Its lifecycle is managed using *kubectl* on the Grafana, GrafanaDashboard and GrafanaDataSource objects. The following figure shows the deployed objects after deploying a Grafana object using *kubectl*:

```
+--------------------+
|                    |      +---------------+
|  Grafana Operator  |      |               |
|                    |      |     RBAC      |
|    Deployment      |      |   Privileges  |
|                    |      |               |
+--+----+------------+      +-------+-------+
   |    ^                           |
   |    |   +-----------------+     |
   |    +---+ Service Account +<----+
   |        +-----------------+
   |
   |
   |
   |
   |                                                   Grafana
   |                     +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                     |                                                                           |
   |                     |                          +--------------+             +-----+             |
   |                     |                          |              |             |     |             |
   +-------------------->+       Service & Ingress  |    Grafana   +<------------+ PVC |             |
                         |      <-------------------+              |             |     |             |
                         |                          |  Deployment  |             +-----+             |
                         |                          |              |                                 |
                         |                          +-----------+--+                                 |
                         |                                      ^                +------------+      |
                         |                                      |                |            |      |
                         |                                      +----------------+ Configmaps |      |
                         |                                                       |   Secrets  |      |
                         |                                                       |            |      |
                         |                                                       +------------+      |
                         |                                                                           |
                         +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

```

This Grafana Operator chart allows users to easily deploy multiple Grafana instances compared to the Grafana chart.

> NOTE: As the Operator automatically deploys Grafana installations, the Grafana Operator pods will require a ServiceAccount with privileges to create and destroy multiple Kubernetes objects. This may be problematic for Kubernetes clusters with strict role-based access policies.

[Learn more about managing multiple Grafana instances and dashboards on Kubernetes with the Grafana Operator](https://docs.bitnami.com/tutorials/manage-multiple-grafana-operator).
